Ideas.

A very serious mark of amateurs in our country, is that they put too much weightage on ideas. So much so that, when an idea hits them, they are so overwhelmed by it that they forget that they have to write a good tight script.

Now, I am not telling that ideas are not important, only that they are the easy part. There are just too many people who are creative enough to think up of a great idea. What’s lacking is the ability to make the script great too.

Writing, of any kind is more craftsmanship than inspiration. And it’s not like the amateur screenwriter doesn’t know of this limitation, he just doesn’t recognise it. For example, I have seen many short filmmakers shying away from giving a synopsis of their film, they are like: “I can’t tell you anything about the movie, coz’ if I do, you will not enjoy it.”

Well, look, here’s the deal kid. If all your movie does is give me a synopsis of the movie that it could have been, then am not gonna like it man.

Your attempt should be to make a film, that can be watched again and again. Like all good movies, your movie needs to seem fresh if seen after 3 months or so. And good screenwriting is an awesome way to ensure that.